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The letter P

A good tile to get, on a par with the M. In fact, M and P go particularly well together (except perhaps in politics), like in words containing IMP and EMP: BLIMP, WIMP, HEMP, TEMPT, etc. Two-letter words with the P are: PA father… Read More

The letter O

The O is not just the fourth vowel alphabetically, it is also the fourth-best in Scrabble, not quite as good as A or I, certainly nowhere near as good as the E, but better than the U. Having said that, it has the advantage that if you get too many… Read More

Challenge!

In this country (certainly until you get to the more high-level tournaments) you can challenge any word your opponent plays “free of charge”; if it does turn out to be a valid word, you don’t lose anything. Many players don’t make full use of this rule; they will look doubtfully… Read More

The letter N

The N, being one of the one-point tiles, clearly figures in a lot of bonus words. You can think of dozens of words beginning with EN-, IN-, CON-, UN- and other prefixes. It comes up in endings like -MAN, -MENT, -TION and -ING. But just a few words of warning… Read More

The letter M

In contrast to the L, an M is nearly always worth having. It is hugely versatile for two-letter words, including the all-consonant HM and MM (you might also put MY in this category), meaning it is often easy to slip onto a triple-letter square for twenty points or more. Read More

The letter L

The L is the least good of the one-point tiles. It’s OK, but not as strong as N, R, S and T for making bonus words. It doesn’t turn up in many common prefixes or suffixes either – there is ‘like’, but there is only one K so it won’t… Read More

Spoilt for Choice

If you can fit two or more anagrams on the board, then you can look at other factors to decide which to play. Score: Does one hit a double- or triple-word square, or get a higher-scoring tile on a double- or triple-letter square? Vowel position: Does one put a vowel… Read More